A/N: So, I was actually feeling pretty discouraged by the lack of reviews, which is why I have to dedicate this next chapter to Malurina because she was the only one who did. ON WITH THE SHOW:

"…Zela…I'm afraid that if my magical abilities are hereditable…these kittens might inherit them…and if they start to wield them while in the womb, they could kill each other…or possibly Victoria…"

Zelaphelia stared at the tuxedo tom for a few seconds, pondering over what he had just told her. At first, all she could think was that this was a veritable concern. She didn't know what she could to Misto to make him feel better. Magic…magic was a treacherous thing, and being a mystic wasn't exactly easy, especially knowing that your kittens could hold their own magic. Another reason to fear kitten birth…

~^..^~

Mistoffelees stared at the gold-red queen quietly, seeing the shock and pity in her eyes. However, he didn't want pity. He just needed for someone to understand how he felt right now, which wasn't going to happen with Zela, because even with her being a mystic, she was very naïve in these types of situations. Sure, she was intelligent for one thing, wise for another, but she wasn't the expert on how to birth mystical kittens. Jellyorum or Jennyanydots would probably be better second opinions. Still, he was glad that he could talk to Zela. He hadn't seen or heard from her in so long, and she was one of the only cats in the tribe that could understand him, excluding Tantomile and Coricopat. They barely ever talked to anyone anyway.

But it was the strangest of unspoken bonds ever to be realized, how mystical cats could link with each others. It was never brought to Zelaphelia's knowledge, but mystics could speak to each other through their minds. He would speak to the twins when it was important. They never liked having a mental intrusion, unless they did it to each other. And every once in awhile, Misto would try looking through Macavity's mind, just to see if he could find out what a criminal mastermind's psyche contained. In all attempts, the tuxedo tom would only be forced out by Macavity's mental barriers. After the first twenty times, Misto had given up, and that was a long time ago. And he never had attempted on reading Zela's mind.

She stared at him briefly, and then looked down at her paws that daintily sat in her lips. She blinked once or twice, "Misto…I…I'm sorry…I just…..I just thought you were happy…"

Misto grunted, glaring at nothing, "I am, Zela, I just…I'm don't want to see what happened to my mother happen to Victoria, even if all of the kittens survive. I'm not strong enough without her…. Zela, you just don't know what it feels like…losing the only one you could ever love…. I'm scared, Zel. I need her…"

Zelaphelia's lips curled back as she stared at the floor for awhile. "Well…what's the chance that she dies in labor?"

Misto shook his head painstakingly, "I don't know…it depends on if the kittens inherit magic. And it also depends on how many she's carrying. If there's more than five and they've all inherited, she doesn't stand a chance. If there are only a few, and one or two inherit…there's a lesser chance that any harm could come to her. I don't know…I just really need to make sure she's going to be alright."

"There's no way of telling any of this?" The gold-red queen asked curiously, "You can't get Cori and Tanti to see how many there are, or something like that?"

Misto's brow wrinkled a little, his thoughts turning toward a different idea, "Zela…I bet you could…well…I don't know if you could…but maybe you could look inside of Victoria; see how many fetuses there are?"

The gold-red queen's eyes popped, a smile cracked on her face and shook her head. She looked as if to be holding back a laugh. "No chance, Misto. I haven't even been seeking visions that often anymore. They'll come once in awhile, but I've refrained from looking anywhere so…odd."

Misto raised an eyebrow at her suspiciously, "Are you saying that you can't help in possibly save your sister's life, or you won't?" He felt a sudden rush of anger pass through him. She wouldn't do anything so heartlessly, would she?

Zela's eyes seem to swarm in guilt. She looked away from him, "I'm saying that…I don't know if I can…"-the tuxedo tom rolled his eyes. Zela must have caught a glimpse of this- "Hey! It's not that easy, Misto! I-…the truth is…I haven't been using my powers since I left the Junkyard. I was letting paranoia consume me…I was afraid that… Macavity may find me if I made myself conspicuous like that…And now, I'm afraid that if I try to use them…I might make a mistake…"

Mistoffelees wanted to laugh at her explanation, but avoided doing so. The gold-red female looked dead-serious. "Zela…" he inhaled sharply, "I don't think Macavity would have found you if you did or didn't use your powers. He could have caught you either way, but he didn't. You didn't encounter him, so maybe he's given up the chase." All of this was just an offered opinion, which he hoped she would understand.

Zela blinked a few times at the ground, and then looked up at him, with saddened eyes. And he was the one that was supposed need comfort now. "Misto…I've only told Munkustrap this, and I really need you to keep it to yourself …where I was staying this spring…the cats that I was living with were attacked by a Pollicle. He had an M- shaped scar on his neck. I can only assume he was a servant of Macavity's. That was the only time I ever had a run-in with one of Macavity's stooges this past year, and I left immediately after that…Mist, he is after me. I don't know what he's planning, or what he's going to do…but I'm scared. I've been too afraid to even try to get a vision into the Warehouse…"

Misto stared at the gold-red queen for a few seconds, unsure of what to say. If Macavity was still after her, the tuxedo tom knew they were going to see a lot more of him soon. He didn't need magic to see that. "Zela...I…" he sighed. No matter what he said, it probably wouldn't be convincing. "I think I need to tell you something…" he said, quickly changing the subject. He hadn't really thought about this, but Zela had told them something about how she defeated Macavity last autumn, and the way she explained it had disturbed Misto and both Cori and Tanti. They were all going to talk to her, but she had left before they had gotten the chance.

Zelaphelia looked up at Mistoffelees quietly. Her eyes were glimmering in interest. And it was those eyes…Those unusual eyes. They were violet…with specks of gold twisting around in her irises, beautiful, but unreal…unnatural. Misto stared at her eyes for a few seconds, "Zela, do you know what happened to your eyes?"

The gold-red queen's neck straightened as a shocked and slightly embarrassed look emptied onto her face. She blinked once or twice before looking away, "They…they changed the night I fought Macavity. I remember seeing them yellow for a few seconds, then they changed back to violet…I only noticed the gold specks a few weeks after that…"

Misto nodded quietly, still staring at her. "Zel…Tanti, Cori, and I talked about that fight you told us about. You said something about a…compulsion…and…voices in your head."

Zela nodded, confirming this. "Yes…I don't know what it was…but it just gave me this power, Misto…I thought it was some sort of…I don't know…mystical adrenaline rush…or something like that."

The tuxedo tom chuckled, "Don't be ridiculous Zela, there's no such thing…but I think what you experienced…it was very rare…and very dangerous…I'm not sure what it was…I may be a mystic, but I'm no expert..."

Zela brow furrowed, "But…you and Cori and Tanti…think it's dangerous?"

Misto shrugged, "It might have been. We're not sure if it could have killed you, but it was definitely powerful enough to kill anyone around you, even a mystic."

The gold-red queen paused for a few seconds, and then sighed, "I could have killed him…Macavity."

He nodded, "I know…but you didn't…I'm not sure it if it was right or wrong, but... that power that was given to you…it just changed your eyes…You never attempted it again, did you?"

She shook her head, "I'm not sure how it even occurred! How could I conjure it back up?"

He shrugged again, "I don't know…but I don't think it would be safe to try it again. Maybe we can talk to Tanti and Cori about it later…try to sort it out…"

Zela nodded and smiled at him, "Maybe we should…"

Mistoffelees smiled back at her, glad to see that his friend was in a better mood, and also glad because he was in a better mood. In fact, he felt like he could look more positively towards the fact that he was going to become a father. He wasn't exactly sure how he was going to save Victoria, but he promised himself silently that he would, whatever it took. He had to save Vicky, and he would do anything to make sure she would survive this pregnancy. Suddenly, a presence entered into his den. Mistoffelees turned himself from the gold-red queen. His eyes lingered over the entrance, only to see Munkustrap wandering into view.

The silver tabby had a bit of a panicked expression as he rushed into the den, "Misto, I need you."

Misto and Zela stood up simultaneously. He walked over to Munkustrap, who was fidgeting nervously, "What's going on Munk?" he asked curiously.

The Jellicle guardian shook his head, obviously disgruntled, "I'll tell you about it when we get to Jelly's den." Munkustrap glanced over at gold-red queen quickly and took in some air, "Zela, you should come as well. We need all the help we can get."

The two young felines glanced at each other quickly, but then complied as the followed Munkustrap out of the den...

~^..^~

Etcetera sat next to Plato's side. He was shaking, but he was finally silent from that malevolent cackle. She brushed his paw with hers several times with a worried expression. She was scared, slightly happy, but also scared. Plato had asked her to accompany him at the Jellicle ball months ago, and she decided to oblige him, even though she still really wanted the Rum Tum Tugger to ask her. But he never did. The Curious Cat was too secluded to do that. And when Etcy had nearly lost hope in being asked to the ball, Plato came out of the shadows and found the confidence to ask her. She remembered smiling and embracing him happily. Despite her overwhelming crush on Tugger, she still liked Plato. And he never seemed to mind how garrulous she actually was, unlike the Maine coon, who had commented on it several times. Plato had always enjoyed her company actually, and as her love for Tugger slowly faded, a small crush began to form for the bi-color tom.

They had spent a long time together after he had asked her to the ball, and slowly, the light tabby queen realized she was falling for him. But she hadn't realized this until after he had disappeared. She remembered Munkustrap sending out search parties for him constantly, and Etcy tried to be apart of each one of them. They never found him though. And Old Deuteronomy never came back to tell them what to do. Munk seemed completely bewildered on the subject, and just stuck to his original plans of search parties. So far, all of them had failed, until now. Etcetera shook herself violently, feeling the cold perspiration drip off of Plato's paws. The sweat was rubbed onto hers, and the light tabby wanted to cry. She hated seeing Plato like this.

Jellyorum suddenly stepped in with Alonzo. The medicine queen seemed quite baffled. Her fur was flying everywhere as she attached herself to an old spice rack that had been filled with human medical books. As far as Etcy knew, there were only a number of Jellicles in the Junkyard that actually knew how to read human words. Jelly had required her daughter to learn. After all, how else would she take over for the older tabby after she passed on? Etcetera shook her head, patting Plato's paw once again. Alonzo came close to her, studying her solemn face. "Etcy, you okay?"

The young female nodded quietly as she stood up from Plato's side, "I'm fine…" she breathed.

The white and black tom smiled at her, and patted her on the back sympathetically. Alonzo really cared about his younger siblings. Etcy smiled at her older brother, noticing for the first time that she wasn't gabbing about any of this. In fact, this was the first time she was speechless. Suddenly, Munkustrap came into the den. Misto and Zelaphelia came in, standing close to the silver tabby.

Jellyorum noticed them come in, and suddenly slammed the book she was reading. "Finally!" she exclaimed, standing up and moving towards Munkustrap.

Misto stepped in closer, "Jelly? You don't look so good…" he commented lightly, noticing the medical queen's haggard appearance.

Jellyorum ignored him as she looked up at Munkustrap. She grunted, having a discontented look on her face, "Why did you bring Zela?" she asked in a whispered tone, "I thought you said you didn't want anyone else involved."

The silver tabby grimaced, "She might be able to help, and she was already with Misto when I found him, so I figured that she'd be asking about it later anyway. Besides, I want to tell the tribe as soon as we possibly can." Jellyorum grunted and shook her head disapprovingly. Munkustrap frowned, "Jelly, that's not even the issue." He said dryly, "You know I wouldn't have brought them if I didn't think we couldn't use their help."

The tuxedo tom finally came into the conversation, "What are you talking about Munk? What's going on?"

Zelaphelia seemed slightly uninterested what any of the Jellicles were saying, until she glanced over at Etcetera sitting next to Plato's side. Her gaze widened as she tentatively walked over to the unconscious tom's side. "Is that...Plato?"

Mistoffelees, now curious, walked up to Zela's side and looked down at the disabled tom's bed side. His jaw fell agape, "What the..."

The gold and red queen looked over at her fellow mystic, "I thought you said he was missing." She said inquisitively.

Misto was still staring at Plato, "He was…"

Munkustrap walked up to the two of them, "And then obviously he was found. Alonzo brought him here, but he was slightly…different."

Etcetera let out a small mumble of sorrow. Zela's violet eyes study the unconscious tom, "What happened to him?"

Alonzo, still at the younger light tabby's side shrugged, "I'm not sure. I found him, bloody and bruised, and he was…laughing…horridly laughing…and his eyes were red… He was just… insane…"

Jellyorum flipped through her book again, and then paused at a page. Etcy noticed this as Zelaphelia and Mistoffelees were conversing lightly about Plato's strange behavior. For mystics, they weren't as mysterious and secretive as most of their type was considered to be. The fact that Zela kept mainly to herself was just her personality, never really a considerable trait of mysticism. The conversation between them paused as the light tabby's mother gasped. "I FOUND IT!" she proclaimed successfully, slightly looking crazed and exhausted, "This is a variation of a typical neurological and physical disease. It's almost like an illusion of pain, to put in understandable terms, but this toxin that's coursing through his veins is changing how his blood vessels in his brain react to the blood flow. It's causing major distress to vital cavities in his brain, thus giving him this mirage that he's in pain, and those muscle spasms are completely an overriding of body over mind. He's not control of his own actions. This disease was commonly referred to as the Insanity. It's a mental disorder, usually not causing harm to the body physically…not unless the mind is being completely bent over…"

All five cats stared at the medical queen, in bewilderment. The description of this so-called, toxin was entirely stimulating. Etcetera stared at her mother in amazement. Only an hour or so of studying of few books, and she already found a diagnosis. The light tabby smiled, feeling slightly proud of her fatigued looking mother. Jellyorum collapsed quickly in a chair as she slammed the book shut.

After a few moments pause, Munkustrap was the first to speak, "Okay…okay…good…we found a diagnosis…. Jelly does your book say anything about a cure?"

The medical queen looked up and stared at the Jellicle guardian, as if what he asked should be common knowledge. Then, after a long silence of pondering, Jellyorum dropped her head, "There was no cure found for the disease, and it is said to stay with its victim until death. Reactions could be different, based upon what's in control and what's not, and my professional opinion is that…if the toxin takes over long enough, Plato's insanity will take over and later kill him in an untimely death…"

They all suddenly lowered their heads, looking less confident and more hopeless. Etcy couldn't believe that there was no cure for the accursed toxin that was in Plato's blood. The one tom she truly liked was hereby dubbed insane. The light tabby closed her eyes as Alonzo put a comforting paw around his little sister's shoulder. She turned away from him, crying in the unconscious bi-colored tom's paw. She heard a sentence or two of morose sympathy. The voices sounded like the two mystics combined. They showed utmost sadness for her.

Little Etcetera's head rose as she clutched her formerly future mate, "What did this to you…?" she asked in a hushed whisper, not even loud enough for anyone to hear. But everyone already knew who it was. Plato had obviously been a victim of Macavity. There was no question of it, and the light tabby queen would have held on to her angered and hateful feelings for the stupid ginger tom, if it wasn't for the fact that she was too devastated to do so. Suddenly, Etcy felt a twitch; a slight tremor of movement in Plato's paw. She dropped it on the table, and became slightly terrified, flinching back in her seat and screeching. Alonzo gripped her shoulder, studying her facial expression. His gaze quickly followed hers as she looked down. It was at this, that everyone in the den realized that Plato was moving.

Jellyorum moved as fast as her feet could carry her as she gestured Etcetera forward. The light tabby wittingly complied as she walked with her mother across the small den, but still staring at the squirming tortishell tom. Jelly growled impatiently, thrusting the bottle of morphine drugs into her daughter's hands.

"If he should act the same way he did," she whispered to Etcy, "Be sure to be ready with that stuff." The medical queen quickly handed her daughter a piece of cloth and nodded at her.

The two queens gingerly walked forward together as they prepared for the worst. Jellyorum paced quietly in front of Plato. She felt his pulse first, and then opened his eyelid, checking for swelling. The moment she released the thumb from the upper eyelid, the bi-colored tom exhibited a fully conscious display of palpebration. It was clear at this point that Plato was fully awake, and surprisingly, he seemed…normal. No demented laughing, nor violent muscle spasms. Nothing. Etcy stared at the tortishell tom for the longest times, tentative…but slightly happy…

~^..^~

Plato could barely gather the traces of his mind together again. It took hours of enduring intense pain to finally find that he was conscious…just not…awake. The tortishell tom reasoned with himself, hoping that his pain was temporary, but a more logical side knew better. The pain was still numbing his entire body. The tip of his tongue tasted bitter, and the blood pumping through his veins felt slower. His breaths came out huffed and jagged. His eyelids blinked a few times, and the only thing he saw were six silhouetted faces all unfocused and in threes. Plato's head spun as if the pain in his chest was pounding against his whole body, making him dizzy. It took him a few minutes before he could process a few words to sputter, "Wh-a wha- what…hap-pened…?" he asked. The pain filled the empty cavities of his body. It felt like someone was sawing his head from the inside. He had never experienced this type of gruesome aching in his entire life.

A wavering voice suddenly spoke to him, "Plato! Plato…Are you awake? Speak to us, Plato!" It sounded a lot like Alonzo's voice…or it could have been Jellyorum.

The tortishell tom hacked up something. He could feel his gums bleeding and his arms in a restraining device. He wasn't sure why his arms and legs were restrained, but he was pretty sure his head was pummeling his body. As he stared around the room in a panicked fit, his eyes suddenly came back into focus, and the light dimmed on the dark figures that surrounded him. The faces lit up like candles as Plato recognized each Jellicle. Etcy was the first that his eyes lay upon. She looked like she had been crying, but she seemed to be smiling at him. Next to her, Alonzo stood, looking half confused. Then around the table, Jellyorum was studying him upside-down, Munkustrap and Misto were at the side, both expressing the same amount of being startled and disturbed. The last of the brood of revealed identities was the most confusing to the tortishell tom. The face was unfamiliar, at first, but then he realized it was the one queen who had started strange turn of events last fall, Zelaphelia. Plato started to remember everything he could from when she was here. He hadn't known the gold-red queen that well, but he knew she had caused much distress.

Plato lay flat on the table, feeling confused, woozy, and somewhat sick. He quickly muffled out some words, "Whaaaa…? Iyye'm…how…" he mumbled under his breath. He was trying to talk, but his throat felt like a fire was burning inside of it. He felt the pain in his body slowly start to settle.

"He's awake." Jellyorum said quietly to the others. A round of nods circled him in agreement. The medical queen looked back down at him, "You're alright, Plato. You're alright…just…stay calm, and…everything will be fine."

Plato stared up at her confusedly. His eyes began to open wider. "What…happened to me…?" he asked, confused, and having a horrible headache.

Jellyorum didn't answer his question. Instead, Etcetera gently touched his face, "Nothing…just get some rest."

But Plato ignored her request; instead, he attempted to sit up. The restraints, however, barely allowed him to raise his head. "Please…" he coughed, "What's going on? What happened…"

Alonzo spoke quickly, meeting his friends wandering eyes, "Plato, something happened when we found you. You…you…went mad…kind of."

The tortishell tom frowned, raising an eyebrow, "went…mad?"

Jellyorum finally spoke, meeting his face right-side up next to Munkustrap, "Plato, you are suffering from the reactions of a toxin. Hopefully what had happened was the largest effect. How do you feel?"

Plato needed to scratch his head, but found the restrain still holding his arm. He quickly asked to be let go before answering the question. Jellyorum and Etcy complied quickly, releasing him from the strong Velcro restraints. Plato sat up, rubbing his wrists achingly. And then suddenly a pain swept through his body. He let out a painful growl. Etcy put a concerned paw on his shoulder, as did Jellyorum and Munkustrap. The pain quickly settled in his body. He felt his paws numb and his forehead breaking in a new production of perspiration. He suddenly remembered the medical cat's question, "I feel…like crap." He said honestly. "My whole body is aching, and I have a relentless…headache…and there's this…shooting pain…that…shifts all around my body…Ah Heavyside, it hurts..."

Etcetera helped to support Plato's upper body. He gripped her tiny paw, feeling the pain shoot up through his neck. They came too often and twice as harsh in every session. The tortishell tom smiled at the young light tabby graciously. Everyone in the circle started chatting at him about his current state and what was going to happen. Plato got swept into his own thoughts. Plato had grown a deep affection for Etcy. He loved how quirky and sweet she was. Sometimes she was a bit of a popinjay, but only when Tugger was around, or hanging around Jemima and Victoria and such. Other than that, she was completely charming to him. Like a distant, more eccentric version of Bombalurina. It took some weeks to develop some self-confidence and begin to talk to her, though it wasn't necessarily that hard because she would do most of the talking. But it took even longer to ask her to the ball. But she seemed a bit crushed because she couldn't get Tugger's attention too closely. Plato took it as a stroke of maturity, though she had made it adherently clear to the both of them that she still really liked Tugger. And he respected this in a way. Even Victoria, who had mated with Misto, still had an interesting adoration for the Curious Cat. They all knew it was kitten behavior and besides, everyone knew that Tugger had an 'irresistible' charm on queens.

Well, Etcy seemed pretty attached to the tortishell after awhile, almost forgetting about Tugger and everything seemed better, but then he had gotten himself kidnapped. He remembered enduring long nights of torture, thinking about his mother, about Etcy, and the whole tribe looking for him. He had high hopes that someone from the Junkyard would find him. But day in and day out, he sat in a dark room, experiencing side-effects of weapon and torture method experiments, and no one came. And then, not only a couple of days ago, he remembered having his tormenters come into his room and stabbing him in his wrists with a sharp needle; one that looked like something his mother would use for sewing. Then everything went black and that was when he found himself at the Junkyard.

That was when Plato remembered something: his mother. Jennyanydots. She must have been beside herself with panic and worry during his absence. The tortishell tom looked up at Jellyorum and Munkustrap. His whole body still ached with the intense pain, but he ignored it, "My mother," he started, "Where is she? How has she been?"

The two adults looked at him for a second, then stared at each other, then looked away uncomfortably. They sat in an embarrassing and awkward silence, and Plato didn't want to accept that as an answer. He sat himself up, still relying on Etcy's support. Just when he was about to repeat his question, a high voice suddenly shrieked from the door way. Everyone's head turned to the entrance. And just like that, it was speak of the devil. Jennyanydots stood there, using the wall of cement blocks to hold her weight, as if she was about to collapse from shock.

The Gumbie Cat quickly strode into the den, looking both shocked, happy, and in complete disbelief. "PLATO!" she screeched, pushing Munkustrap out of her way and embracing her son tightly. Plato cringed in pain. This was worse than what he actually felt with this toxin. "Mum…" he chocked out, "…PAIN." Jenny finally released the tortishell tom mouthing the word sorry and still cradling his upper body in her arms as if he was a kitten. "Plato…Oh, Heavyside, where have you been?" she asked gently holding him as if she would never let go.

Suddenly, Jenny looked up at Munkustrap with a serious face, "How long has he been here?" she asked quickly.

Munkustrap stared at the ground for a few moments before speaking, "A few hours…We weren't sure what was-"

"A FEW HOURS!" she suddenly screeched, "You should have told me the MOMENT he came back!"

"Jenny, calm down!" Munkustrap shouted back. The Gumbie cat reluctantly stopped her shrieks. He continued, "Now we did find him, and we were going to tell you when we thought it was right, but he was infected by a poison that we suspect may have been susceptible to him when he was kidnapped. And we weren't sure how you would have reacted if you saw what had happened to him."

Plato raised an eye curiously at Munkustrap, and then stared around the room at the neutral faces. What exactly had he done when everything darkened? Jenny suddenly looked up from her son, and over to Alonzo, who looked exhausted by this excitement. "Alonzo, I almost forgot," she started calmly, "Cassandra's just gone into labor with her kittens."

The black and white tom jumped up as his eyes widened, "WHAT?" He rolled his eyes upward and through his arms in the air in frustration, "Everlasting Cat, what's next?" he exclaimed. At first, he was about to talk back to Jennyanydots, but then seeing her still fawning over her son, he turned to Jellyorum. "Please help." He begged his mother. Jellyorum sighed, but reluctantly moved. She quickly asked Zelaphelia and Mistoffelees to assist her. They looked at each other slightly concerned, but reluctantly followed her out of the den, with Alonzo close beside them. Plato, Jennyanydots, and Munkustrap were left alone to discuss everything that had happened during his mental absence…

~^..^~